I am once again in West Africa performing an assessment for Benin and negotiating protocols with the government. Just to make sure this trip won’t be boring, I will be traveling alone without a team mate and the city I am traveling too has just had a cholera outbreak where several hundred have gotten sick and several have died. I could use your prayers on this as if I get sick there is no one to cover for me, so I simply cant afford to get sick. Please keep my health in your prayers.
I arrived on the evening of October 10th and proceeded to spend the next 2 hours waiting for my luggage to come out on the conveyor belt. The heat was stifling with high humidity and as I waited the first 15 minutes for the belt to start, I realized I was back. The smell of several hundred Africans crammed into a tight space with the humidity and heat hit you like a sledge hammer. As I was try to think cool thoughts, I started singing a worship song in my head to stay calm and try to enjoy this first moment in Africa.
But then the belt started and what occurred next could only be described as a combination of a rugby scrum and roller derby. People immediately began pushing people over to get bags, that in the end were not even theirs. Everyone owns a black bag in Africa and they all look alike. People would scratch and punch to get a bag and then hurl it back on to the belt. One of the first pieces out was a dog carrier with a little dog that would not stop barking. As this African version of a wrestling cage match went on for 2 hours, that dog continued to go by me every 2.2 minutes (yes I timed, it I had nothing better to do). In the beginning I was sympathetic to the dog; but after 2 hours of his barking to remind me my luggage was still missing, I was starting to wonder how bad dog could really taste.
Eventually my luggage arrived unscathed and I finally found our former Executive Director Daslin (Small) Oueounou waiting for me. She had actually tried to call Zana to see if I had missed the flight.
I have kidnapped 2 of my daughters stuffed animals and I am journaling their exploits, so my daughters can feel like they are a part of this. Here is a picture of my captives being tortured by an African Grey parrot that can whistle “the pirates who don’t do anything song”:
My task here is to be very
difficult. The port officials only want us to stay 6 months, while our new programs model calls for a 10 month stay. The difference in time represents 2,000 less surgeries, 4,000 less dental procedures and up to $5 million less money spent on medical training and infrastructure.
I am also charged with assessing 8-10 community clinics to find 2 that will receive our Strategic health programs and tie up a series of medical question left unfinished by the last team due to a 6 week medical worker strike.
I went to one clinic on my 2nd day and under a wood pile I could hear all this rustling. Now I know what your thinking, I should step back from it and leave it alone. Well your obviously not me I got a big stick and from a distance lifted up a piece of plywood and about 50 lizards jumped out running on their back legs and came right for me. Ok I’m told by my interpreter that 1. for a big man I’m very fast 2. for a big man I can sound like a little girl. Before you judge me, you should have seen these things. It was my Jurassic park moment of my life.
At the end of my first week, I met with the US Ambassador, Madame Gayleetha Brown. She is a wonderful diplomat, in the Teddy Roosevelt straight talk, big stick approach. She offered to sit next to me in meetings with the different ministries to assure them that it was in their best interests to facilitate our ships needs.
After several meetings with senior ministers, the President of Benin has decided to call a special meeting of all his ministers and I am to address this joint session and present our argument as to why we should be allowed to stay for 10 months.
I NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Thursday at 11am EST and 10 CST I will be addressing this special Presidential conference with the US Ambassador at my side. I need to convince these ministers that the benefit we offer to this community outweighs the costs of our staying on the harbor an additional 4 months. They have compelling reasons to not do this so I need the Lord to perform this miracle and that it is Him that they hear and not me.
If you could stop what your doing at that time for just a moment and pray for me I would greatly appreciate it.
If you could pray for my girls while I’m away that would be great. I am constantly reminded what an awesome wife I have, that would allow me to have these adventures without her. When in my heart I know she has the greatest calling to go. I think Jessie is second and Cailin and me tie for 3rd. It is hard when I’m doing what they love to do without them. I am greatly blessed as a husband and father.
Thank you for your prayers!
On a more funny or sad note, I can’t decide. Its probably best described as an African moment. I was touring a hospital, where in order to impress me they were having me look at every single room and closet in the facility. We suddenly found ourselves in an operating room. They gave me a scrub shirt and a mask that smelled like the last person who wore it had some bad fish for lunch. They then handed me a pair of flip flops so small my daughter couldn’t have worn them. As I tried to put them on they just turned sideways so I was just walking on the balls of my feet and then we enter the OR. As I enter all the doctors and nurses stop what they are doing to come over and talk to me and have pictures taken with me. Unfortunately they all abandon the patient they were working on. After 5 minutes, I ask if they need to finish with their patient. They just kind of shrug and turn back to the patient as if they were disappointed the fun was over. Please if I get hurt…..FLY me out of here!!!!! If necessary freeze me and send me home to be thawed and worked on.
Seriously, we really need to help these people their medical infrastructure is almost non-existent for their small capital let alone their entire country.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We could not do this without you being in our lives.
May we be successful and that God gets all the glory!
Love you all.
In His service and yours,
Mark
a.k.a, Big-Big, or Big Belly Bossman
I arrived on the evening of October 10th and proceeded to spend the next 2 hours waiting for my luggage to come out on the conveyor belt. The heat was stifling with high humidity and as I waited the first 15 minutes for the belt to start, I realized I was back. The smell of several hundred Africans crammed into a tight space with the humidity and heat hit you like a sledge hammer. As I was try to think cool thoughts, I started singing a worship song in my head to stay calm and try to enjoy this first moment in Africa.
But then the belt started and what occurred next could only be described as a combination of a rugby scrum and roller derby. People immediately began pushing people over to get bags, that in the end were not even theirs. Everyone owns a black bag in Africa and they all look alike. People would scratch and punch to get a bag and then hurl it back on to the belt. One of the first pieces out was a dog carrier with a little dog that would not stop barking. As this African version of a wrestling cage match went on for 2 hours, that dog continued to go by me every 2.2 minutes (yes I timed, it I had nothing better to do). In the beginning I was sympathetic to the dog; but after 2 hours of his barking to remind me my luggage was still missing, I was starting to wonder how bad dog could really taste.
Eventually my luggage arrived unscathed and I finally found our former Executive Director Daslin (Small) Oueounou waiting for me. She had actually tried to call Zana to see if I had missed the flight.
I have kidnapped 2 of my daughters stuffed animals and I am journaling their exploits, so my daughters can feel like they are a part of this. Here is a picture of my captives being tortured by an African Grey parrot that can whistle “the pirates who don’t do anything song”:
My task here is to be very
difficult. The port officials only want us to stay 6 months, while our new programs model calls for a 10 month stay. The difference in time represents 2,000 less surgeries, 4,000 less dental procedures and up to $5 million less money spent on medical training and infrastructure.I am also charged with assessing 8-10 community clinics to find 2 that will receive our Strategic health programs and tie up a series of medical question left unfinished by the last team due to a 6 week medical worker strike.
I went to one clinic on my 2nd day and under a wood pile I could hear all this rustling. Now I know what your thinking, I should step back from it and leave it alone. Well your obviously not me I got a big stick and from a distance lifted up a piece of plywood and about 50 lizards jumped out running on their back legs and came right for me. Ok I’m told by my interpreter that 1. for a big man I’m very fast 2. for a big man I can sound like a little girl. Before you judge me, you should have seen these things. It was my Jurassic park moment of my life.
At the end of my first week, I met with the US Ambassador, Madame Gayleetha Brown. She is a wonderful diplomat, in the Teddy Roosevelt straight talk, big stick approach. She offered to sit next to me in meetings with the different ministries to assure them that it was in their best interests to facilitate our ships needs.
After several meetings with senior ministers, the President of Benin has decided to call a special meeting of all his ministers and I am to address this joint session and present our argument as to why we should be allowed to stay for 10 months.
I NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Thursday at 11am EST and 10 CST I will be addressing this special Presidential conference with the US Ambassador at my side. I need to convince these ministers that the benefit we offer to this community outweighs the costs of our staying on the harbor an additional 4 months. They have compelling reasons to not do this so I need the Lord to perform this miracle and that it is Him that they hear and not me.
If you could stop what your doing at that time for just a moment and pray for me I would greatly appreciate it.
If you could pray for my girls while I’m away that would be great. I am constantly reminded what an awesome wife I have, that would allow me to have these adventures without her. When in my heart I know she has the greatest calling to go. I think Jessie is second and Cailin and me tie for 3rd. It is hard when I’m doing what they love to do without them. I am greatly blessed as a husband and father.
Thank you for your prayers!
On a more funny or sad note, I can’t decide. Its probably best described as an African moment. I was touring a hospital, where in order to impress me they were having me look at every single room and closet in the facility. We suddenly found ourselves in an operating room. They gave me a scrub shirt and a mask that smelled like the last person who wore it had some bad fish for lunch. They then handed me a pair of flip flops so small my daughter couldn’t have worn them. As I tried to put them on they just turned sideways so I was just walking on the balls of my feet and then we enter the OR. As I enter all the doctors and nurses stop what they are doing to come over and talk to me and have pictures taken with me. Unfortunately they all abandon the patient they were working on. After 5 minutes, I ask if they need to finish with their patient. They just kind of shrug and turn back to the patient as if they were disappointed the fun was over. Please if I get hurt…..FLY me out of here!!!!! If necessary freeze me and send me home to be thawed and worked on.
Seriously, we really need to help these people their medical infrastructure is almost non-existent for their small capital let alone their entire country.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We could not do this without you being in our lives.
May we be successful and that God gets all the glory!
Love you all.
In His service and yours,
Mark
a.k.a, Big-Big, or Big Belly Bossman
